Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2003 19:05:01 -0700
Reply-To: Chris ALmida <chris@FLATBLACK.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Chris ALmida <chris@FLATBLACK.NET>
Subject: MINOR? COOLANT CATASTROPHE HELP NEEDED
In-Reply-To: <20030730.183217.1216.6.wilden1@juno.com>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Well the wife called
about two
hours ago to announce that she was stranded in our 84 Westy and there
was
coolant everywhere. I found her high on a mountain road near our house
with
coolant dripping from the open slider door. So I proceeded to lift
the rear seat and take the cover off of the rear heater. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Sure enough the
connections where
the hoses and the heater come together were covered in coolant crud and
there
was a large puddle under the heater. I had done a coolant flush over
this
past weekend and installed a tee near the front of the Westy between
the two heaters;
luckily there was already a splice there with a knobbed connector which
I
replaced with the tee. So I took said connector disconnected the hoses
from the heater and connected them together. This allowed me to start
up the Westy
, turn it around and then coast it all the way down the hill (5 miles)
the temp
gauge was buried to the right and the coolant level light was flashing
so I ran
the engine as little as possible from the bottom of the hill to a gas
station
about half a mile up the road. It now sits parked in front of the
station. </p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style=""> </span>My
question is what best to do next?
Should I just fill it with straight coolant still? Can I run it with
the
heater by passed until I sort out what part failed and replace it?
(Connecting
two straight hoses with a plastic straight connector creates a slight
kink in
the hose) Should I risk limping it home after it cools (maybe two
miles
mostly flat a little gradual rise)? Can I just top it off till it’s
the
right level again or should I now re flush it again to make sure I get
proper
mixture? What about mixing coolant types? <span style=""> </span>I
filled it with the sierra brand but live in
a small town and can’t get any more until tomorrow when I head out to
the big
city. The gas station where it is parked sells a brand that is safe for
aluminum engines but uses EG instead of PG.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">Sorry for all the
questions but I
don’t want to make a bad situation worse and am a little paranoid about
blowing
the heads or something.</p>
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